Ice dispensing apparatus



Dec. 24, 1968 R. H. GALLEN 3,417,903

ICE DI SPENS ING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 18, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l 5 1 I m4; E: 4 l n" l l E I I 'zig C l r:

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ICE DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed oct. 18, 1966 2 sheets-snee 2 United States Patent O" 3,417,903 ICE DISPENSING APPARATUS Robert H. Callen, Peabody, Mass., assignor to Market Forge Company, Everett, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 587,582 6 Claims. (Cl. 222-238) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A storage bin for holding particles of ice, a conductor extending from near the bottom of the bin upwardly through a counter top, a screw in the conductor for elevating ice particles from the bin, `and a discharge head above the counter top at the upper end of the conductor through which ice raised by the screw is discharged for use.

The -principal objects of this invention are to provide for storage of a sutiicient quantity of ice to meet the normal demand for ice and for dispensing of the ice with 4a minimum amount of congealing of the ice particles; to provide apparatus for `dispensing ice particles only in such quantity as desired at any given time; to provide apparatus which is self-contained and eicient; and to provide apparatus which is reliable, durable and attractive in appearance.

As herein illustrated, the apparatus comprises a bin adapted to `be installed below a counter and a screw conveyor supported with ra portion in communication with the interior of the bin and a portion above the counter for delivering ice from the bin to the counter top. The screw imparts linear movement to the ice and there is means cooperable therewith to prevent the rotation of the screw from imparting a corresponding rotation to the ice particles. The screw is enclosed in a transfer tube, the lower end of which is situated in the bin and the upper end of which is situated above the counter, and the means for preventing rotation of the ice in the transfer tube comprises lugs extending through a slot in the tube into the ice between flights on the screw and movable lengthwise of the transfer tube as the screw rotates. The lugs are supported for movement on an endless belt. The lower end of the transfer tube has an opening in communication with the interior of the bin and there is a rotor in the bin operable, by rotation, to deliver ice to the lower end of the screw in the transfer tube. The rotor is frustoconical and has on its conical surface blades adapted to carry the ice at the bottom of the bin into the opening at the lower end of the transfer tube. A motor provides for effecting rotation of the rotor and the screw. A dispensing head on the counter encloses the upper end of the transfer tube and has a discharge opening from which ice is delivered through a spout extending from the upper end of the screw through the opening. An actuator is located on the dispensing head below the spout operable, by pressure of a vessel held against it, to initiate and maintain operation of the motor so long as it is held depressed.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. l is an elevation of an installed apparatus showing a storage bin below a counter top and a dispensing head above the counter top;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 of that part of the dispensing head above the counter.

Referring to the drawings (FIG. l) the ice storage and dispensing apparatus comprises a storage bin located below a counter 12 and -an ice dispensing head 14 (FIG. 3) located above the counter. The counter 12 may be 3,417,903 Patented Dec. 24, 1968 the top of a cabinet if the apparatus is used in the home, hospital, or the like, or the top of a -bar if used in a restaurant, night club, or otherV public place where ice is normally used for icing beverages.

As illustrated, the bin 10 is comprised of sheet metal having -a bottom 16 and side wall 18 and is of sufficient size to hold enough ice so that under normal operating conditions ice can be supplied to keep it filled from a conventional ice maker at a faster rate than it can abe dispensed from the dispensing head, thereby making ice available continuously. The bin is supported lfrom the floor by legs 19, its sidewall 18 is covered with suitable thermal insulation 22 and is provided at its top with a cover 21. As represented in FIG. 1 a discharge spout 20 from an ice maker is located at the top of the bin for delivering ice thereto through a suitable opening (not shown) in the cover 21. Although it is preferred to employ an ice making machine for supplying ice to the bin automatically, for example controlled by a sensing switch located in the bin which will start and stop the ice making machine to maintain a predetermined level, the ice may be manually deposited in the bin from bags of ice where it is not economically feasible to install an ice making machine.

At the bottom of the bin there is a rotor 24 which is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis at the center of' the bin and which comprises a low platform having a flat circular upper surface 26 and a conical peripheral surface 28, the latter having secured to it at diametrically rightaangular positions radially projecting flanges or blades 30. The rotor is supported for rotation on the upper end of a shaft 27 which extends downwardly through the bottom 16 into a bearing sleeve 29 supported at the center of the bottom. The rotor has at its underside a ring gear 32 which is supported on a ring bearing 34 resting on and secured to the bottom 16. A pinion gear 38 is supported in mesh with the ring gear 32 at the upper end of a shaft 40, the lower end of which extends through the bottom of the bin and has on it a pulley 42. A motor M1 is mounted on a bracket 44 laterally of the bin and drives a pulley 46 about which is entrained one end of a belt 48, the opposite end of which is entrained about the pulley 42. Thus the rotor may fbe rotated by operation of the motor to move ice particles in the bin relative to a conveyor, the lower end of which is in communication with the interior of the bin.

As illustrated, the conveyor comprises an elongate transfer tube 48, the lower portion of which is secured within an opening S0 in the wall 18 so that approximately one-half of the tube projects into the ybin and the other half projects therefrom, as illustrated in FIG. 2, and with its upper portion extending upwardly through the counter 12 into the dispensing head 14 which, in turn, comprises a tubular housing 52 of appropriate design fastened to the upper side of the counter. The transfer tube 48 extends all the way to the bottom of the bin and in the inner half there is close to the bottom an opening 54 which is in communication with the interior of the bin and is of sufficient size so that at least one fiight of a screw 56 in the transfer tube is present to scoop up or lift ice moved laterally through the opening by the rotor 24. The screw 56 comprises a helical blade of substantially uniformly spaced flights 58 secured to a shaft 60 mounted in the transfer tube in bearings 62 and 64 at the lower and upper ends of the tube. The upper bearing is supported in the head and the lower bearing at the underside of the bottom of the bin. The shaft 60i extends through the -bottom and has on it a pulley 66 about which one end of a belt 68 is entrained. The opposite end of the belt is entrained about a pulley 70 fast to the shaft 40. Thus when the motor M1 is operated to effect rotation of the rotor 24 it also effects rotation of the screw 58.

The dispensing housing or head 52 (FIG. 3) encloses the upper end of the conveyor and embodies a sloping tray or spout 72 (FIG. 3) which projects laterally from the upper end of the screw through an opening 74 near the top of the housing 52, so that as ice particles are lifted to the top of the transfer tube by the screw they will be gravitationally discharged down the tray 72 into any receptacle which is held below it. Adjacent the opening 74 there is a pressure-actuated member 76 which is operable when a receptacle is pressed against it to actuate a switch 78, for example, a normally open switch, which will start the motor M1 and will maintain the motor in operation so long as the receptacle is held against it.

One of the diiculties with a screw-type conveyor is that it tends to produce by its own rotation, rotation of the ice without very much translation thereof and hence to cause a considerable amount of congealment so that it is ineflicient as a conveyor. In accordance with this invention this difficulty is overcome by providing a slot 80 lengthwise of the transfer tube 48 and by moving lugs or pils 82 successively along the slot in consonance with the rotation of the screw, the lugs projecting radially inwardly into the ice mass within the transfer tube and preventing rotation thereof while permitting translation. The lugs 82 are mounted at spaced intervals on a belt 84, the opposite ends of which are entrained about transversely spaced pulleys 86 and 88 at the upper and lower ends of the transfer tube and with the ascending run of the belt located in a plane passing through the axis of the Screw. The lugs, as illustrated, are spaced on the belt so that they come between successive flights of the helix. A belt cover 90 is secured to the wall 18 over the outer side of the transfer tube 48 so as to cover the belt 84 and extends through the counter into the housing 52. There s no driving connection between the -motor and the belt. As the screw 58 rotates, it imparts a linear vertical motion to the belt 84 by exerting a vertical force on the lugs 82. y

As thus described, the apparatus provides a particularly eflcient means for storing and dispensing ice particles with a minimum tendency for congealing of the particles and for providing ice in whatever quantities desired.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall withn the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Ice dispensing apparatus comprising a bin for holding a quantity of ice particles, a screw conveyor embodying a transfer tube and a screw supported therein for rotation, said tube being supported with one end adjacent the bottom of the bin and containing a lateral opening in communication with the interior of the bin through which ice from the bin is adapted to be Imoved into engagement with the lower end of the screw for elevation thereby through the tube, means projecting through the wall of the tube and movable lengthwise thereof operable to prevent rotation of the ice within the tube during elevation in the tube, a rotor at the bottom of the bin rotatable to displace ice at the bottom toward said opening at the lower end of the transfer tube, a shaft supporting the rotor, a bearing at the ybottom of the bin in which the shaft is journaled, a ring gear secured to the underside of the rotor, and a pinion mounted in mesh with the ring gear and connected to the motor for effecting rotation of the rotor.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotor is frusto-conical having a at circular top surface situated at a plane above the opening at the lower end of the transfer tube, and a conical, downwardly inclined peripheral surface, the lower edge of which terminates in a horizontal plane, the peripheral edge of which is substantially tangent to a projection of the lower end of the transfer tube on the bottom, and there are blades on the frusto-conical surface.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for preventing rotation of the ice during linear movement comprise a plurality of pins supported for movement lengthwise of the tube in radial relation to the screw and between ights of the screw by an endless belt, the latter being supported on pulleys adjacent the top and bottom of the tube with the ascending run of the belt in a plane passing through the axis of the screw.

4.' Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pins are inclined so that their axes are parallel to the liights.

r5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tube has an open upper end and a sloping discharge tray is mounted at the upper end of the tube to which ice is delivered from said end and there is a motor operable to effect rotation of the screw to discharge a quantity of ice from the upper end of the tube.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a hollow dispensing head at the upper end of the tube into which the tube extends, said head containing a lateral discharge opening and a downwardly extending tray extending from the upper end of the tube to said lateral opening, a normally open switch, and -means on the discharge head below the discharge opening operable by pressure of a vessel against it to close said normally open switch and to hold the switch closed as long as the vessel is held against said means, said switch when closed initiating operation of the motor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Weil et al 222-413 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. H. S. LANE, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 10S-125; 222-333, 413 

